Charles Uzzell Edwards is Pure Evil

We recently had the pleasure of meeting stencil artists Pure Evil and Nick Walker when they visited Sydney. Thanks to Royal Doulton, Pure Evil’s artwork will be on our first ever ‘Stencil Award Plate’ (below) which will be awarded to the winner alongside the $3000 cash prize.

Charles Uzzell-Edward’s eccentric alias, Pure Evil, is as much of a reflection of his art as it is of his personality. A street artist from the UK, Pure Evil is renowned throughout the world for his impressive artworks powered by the urban and skate culture he witnessed during his decade long sojourn in California.

Boasting an impressive yet eclectic resume as clothes designer for the Anarchic Adjustment label and music artist in the 90s, he returned to London a street artist.

Pure Evil began his illustrious career in California, having graduated with a degree in fashion and graphic design in London. With Alan Brown and Nick Philip, he put his degree in fashion to good use as a clothes designer for Anarchic Adjustment.

However, it was as an electronic music artist in San Francisco, where he began attracting the most attention and where he became best known for melding different elements of music together.

It was during his decade in California where graffiti artists such as Twisted and Reminisce made their mark on Charles Uzzell-Edwards. The beginning of Charles Uzzell-Edwards’ career as a stencil artist may have begun in California but it was in London where his career truly flourished.

Pure Evil is best known for a multitude of things. One example is the hugely popular hit song “Tron”. This track is the exemplar of Pure Evil’s ability to create such a unique sound comprised of various and often opposing music. It was this ability to create a unique piece out of several elements that also made him a stand out stencil artist.

He is also best known for creating his trademark fanged rabbit derived from his guilt over shooting a rabbit when he was a child. Interestingly, these often-simplistic drawings harbor complicated meanings. For example, Pure Evil uses the fanged rabbit to showcase him being haunted by the death of the rabbit he killed to symbolize how one should be accountable for their own actions.

In his career as a stencil artist, his works have garnered him both popular and critical acclaim. Some of his biggest achievements remain his collaboration with the people of Banksy’s Santa’s Ghetto and opening up his own Pure Evil gallery in Shoreditch London, where some of his famous pieces such as the Nightmare series remain today. However, Pure Evil has always maintained his main goal was to create bold pieces that encouraged people to stop and just look at his work. This is perhaps his greatest achievement.

Pure Evil embodies an entrepreneurial spirit, which coupled with his tenacity to be innovative is why he remains, to this day, a modern icon for stencil artistry.